Authorities in India have begun slaughtering thousands of poultry birds in the Indian state of West Bengal, after suspecting an outbreak of bird flu. It all started when nearly 10,000 poultry birds died in two villages in Birbhum district during the last week. Many poultry farms have therefore begun giving bird flu vaccines to their chickens. Preliminary laboratory reports hint at the birds dying of avian influenza, but an official confirmation is still awaited. The virus can cause illness and death in humans, but scientists say the chances of being infected are very low. The government is taking no chances and has put together 10 "action teams" and asked them to kill all poultry birds in and around the two villages - Margram 1 and Margram 2- over a five kilometre radius. The West Bengal government has also banned imports of poultry from Bangladesh into the state's border districts. "Preliminary findings at the federal laboratory seem to indicate the existence of the deadly H5N1 virus in the samples we sent. So we are not taking any chances", said Abhijit Raychoudhuri, a local government medical officer. But Mr Raychoudhuri said a final report from the laboratory was awaited for more comprehensive action to start. "So we have been asked to cull the birds and quarantine the area as a precaution. We found that when the birds died last week, villagers had started feasting on it, which can be dangerous," Mr Raychoudhuri said. The last outbreak of the disease was in Manipur. Federal health secretary Naresh Dayal, said a large quantity of preventive Tami flu drug has been despatched to the state and samples of the dead birds have been sent to the laboratory in (the central Indian city of) Bhopal. The final report has not come yet, but there is an indication that it may be bird flu," Mr Dayal said . He said the samples have also been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune. Sunil Kumar Bhowmick, Birbhum district's chief medical officer, said an isolation ward has been opened in the Rampurhat hospital in anticipation of patients who may come in. "Because a lot of villagers cooked the dead birds in the last one week, we are apprehensive," he said. Villages in West Bengal are used to outbreaks of what is known as the "ranikhet disease" which also kills a lot of poultry, so it did not appear that this could be bird flu. Out of ignorance, most residents had a lot of chicken curry but now are scared to the bone because of the frightening development. India faced an outbreak of bird flu in the north-eastern state of Manipur last year and before that in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The disease is said to have entered Manipur from neighbouring Burma. SOURCE: BBC